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In this paper ten names in Andryala are lectotypified. All are either accepted species or subspecies names in a forthcoming taxonomic revision of the genus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Macaronesian laurel forests (MLF) are dominated by trees with a laurophyll habit comparable to evergreen humid forests which were scattered across Europe and the Mediterranean in the Paleogene and Neogene. Therefore, MLF are traditionally regarded as an old, 'Tertiary relict' vegetation type. Here we address the question if key taxa of the MLF are relictual. We evaluated the relict hypothesis consulting fossil data and analyses based on molecular phylogenies of 18 representative species. For molecular dating we used the program BEAST, for ancestral trait reconstructions BayesTraits and Lagrange to infer ancestral areas. Our molecular dating showed that the origins of four species date back to the Upper Miocene while 14 originated in the Plio-Pleistocene. This coincides with the decline of fossil laurophyllous elements in Europe since the middle Miocene. Ancestral trait and area reconstructions indicate that MLF evolved partly from pre-adapted taxa from the Mediterranean, Macaronesia and the tropics. According to the fossil record laurophyllous taxa existed in Macaronesia since the Plio- and Pleistocene. MLF are composed of species with a heterogeneous origin. The taxa dated to the Pleistocene are likely not 'Tertiary relicts'. Some species may be interpreted as relictual. In this case, the establishment of most species in the Plio-Pleistocene suggests that there was a massive species turnover before this time. Alternatively, MLF were largely newly assembled through global recruitment rather than surviving as relicts of a once more widespread vegetation. This process may have possibly been triggered by the intensification of the trade winds at the end of the Pliocene as indicated by proxy data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Andryala (Asteraceae: Cichorieae) is a little-known Mediterranean-Macaronesian genus whose taxonomy is much in need of revision. In order to elucidate species relationships in the genus, we performed phylogenetic analyses of nucleotide sequences of the internal transcribed spacers (ITS) and the external transcribed spacer (ETS) of nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA), two chloroplast (cpDNA) markers (trnT-trnL and trnV-ndhC intergenic spacers), and one single-copy nuclear gene (sqs) using Bayesian and maximum parsimony methods of inference. While cpDNA analysis confirmed a previously inferred chloroplast capture event with the sister genus Pilosella, all nuclear markers supported the monophyletic origin of Andryala. However, determining accurate phylogenetic relationships within the genus was quite challenging due to very low levels of nucleotide divergence of all nrDNA and cpDNA markers and a high degree of homoplasy and incomplete lineage sorting in the variable sqs marker. Although none of the phylogenies were well resolved, all markers identified two well-supported basal lineages corresponding to the relict species A. agardhii (Spain, Morocco) and A. laevitomentosa (Romania). The remaining Andryala taxa under study, whose relationships were largely unresolved, formed a well-supported clade ("Major Radiation Group"). The capacity of the markers to resolve taxonomic entities within this group varied. While congruent genetic evidence was found for some taxa, several morphologically unambiguous species could not be distinguished at all with most or even all markers. The extremely low level of genetic divergence among most of the species, in spite of high morphological diversity, along with a basal polytomy found with all markers, suggests their relatively recent and rapid speciation. Phylogenetic analyses of the single-copy marker advocate for a single colonization event of the common ancestor of two endemic species (A. glandulosa, A. crithmifolia) from the Mediterranean region to Madeira and that of two other endemics (A. perezii, A. pinnatifida) to the Canary Islands. The frequently observed evolutionary pattern of continental dispersion followed by insular speciation also holds for Andryala. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]